A collection of watches for social media photos. #PatekAcademy co-founder Shoyo Kawamura said: "Collecting is a huge part of my life", estimating the value of his watches at more than S$1 million.

PHOTO: NYTIMES

During the four-hour trip on a blisteringly hot day, the men smoked Cohiba cigars and downed drinks as they searched for shade to take photos of their Pateks - many on wrists, others carefully arranged on a blue tarp laid on an upper deck. They talked timepieces, quizzed one another on Patek esoterica and traded tips on how to find rare watches.

PHOTO: NYTIMES

Andy Zhang (left) 28, and Shoyo Kawamura, 23, comparing their Pateks during a cruise around Singapore.

PHOTO: NYTIMES

OVER ONE WEEKEND in late August, a group of 11 millennial-aged watch collectors from Hong Kong; Sydney; Shanghai; Taiwan and Yangon, Myanmar, converged in Singapore.

The attraction? A celebration of #PatekAcademy, a new Instagram affinity group that had 2,655 followers a little more than